Monday, 27 June 2011

God only knows why I haven't gotten around to featuring the wonderful Aerials Up on here yet. But, with their debut Superglue EP racking up all sorts of airplay and acclaim, it's about time I threw my hat into the ring! The EP is an absolute joy to listen to... over and over again. With it, we could very well be witnessing the gorgeous, melodic, epic rise of Scotland's new favourite band. You have been warned!

Over to them to tell you a wee bit about Aerials Up...

Kowalskiy: Who are Aerials Up?

Aerials Up: We're a seven piece band from Glasgow and Dublin.

Kowalskiy: How did the band get together, and what's the story behind the name?

Aerials Up: Hmm.. long story. The band weren't really 'formed' as such. Three members were left over from another band and everyone else kind of came along one at a time. We've all been slogging away in loads of different bands for years so everyone was really on the same page when we kind of found each other. The name is pretty much two words that Kemy always thought sounded nice I think.

Kowalskiy: You're one of the hottest up-and-coming bands in Scotland just now. You were chosen to play at Snow Patrol's HUGE Bellahouston Park gig, a venue 'rocked' by the likes of Coldplay, Subo and The Pope. You'll be one of a select few to play this years TBreak Stage at T in the Park, and your EP is racking up airplay and critical acclaim since its release. Not really sure what my question is... What do you make of it all?

Aerials Up: Hmm.. We're not sure really! We get asked about stuff we've done in the past all the time but to be honest it's not really something we think about much, we tend to focus way more on the things we all still want to do. We've had a lot of luck in the past with people being into the band and stuff but we're most proud of things that we've managed to achieve ourselves that haven't been so easy. T Break is huge for us, we're very proud to have been picked. Getting the EP out on our own but still getting such a good reaction to it and airplay from the BBC and stuff is amazing as well.

Kowalskiy: Speaking of the EP, what'd be your sales pitch for anyone out there who hasn't gotten their hands on it yet?

Aerials Up: I think for us it just represents a period in time that we want to share with people. We had a hard time getting it out and we were going through a lot of transition both in the way we wanted to do things as a band but also musically. There's a couple of really upbeat, poppy tracks that kind of reflect the sound we made our name with but also a more edgy song that's really important to us all and kind of a newer sound. We want to move forward from here with a kind of balance of the two vibes so hopefully the EP reflects that.

Kowalskiy: You've been touring the EP a fair bit recently. Is there much more to come this year?

Aerials Up: For sure yeah. We're on our way to play at the Solas festival at the moment. We've a few more shows before T in the Park and then we're headlining one of the King Tut's Summer Nights shows in July, playing The Liquid Rooms as part of the Edge Festival, and plenty more gigs before summer's out. We've some announcements still to make too, watch this space!

Kowalskiy: Aerials Up have been gathering a reputation as one of the finest live bands in Scotland. How would you describe a typical Aerials Up gig?

Aerials Up: We've been dabbling with a more stripped back, almost acoustic vibe on the road a bit recently but where we most feel at home is on a big stage, loud and proud. A typical gig for us is just a big sound, loads of strings, big drums, and people singing along, hopefully enjoying it as much as we do!

Kowalskiy: What would be your ideal gig?

Aerials Up: It's maybe kind of a lame answer but one thing that's still on my list is to play the Barrowlands at home in Glasgow. I've been lucky enough to play most places that I've wished for but that's definitely still on the list. It's had a bit of a hard time I think with more modern venues appearing but as a kid I just loved it, i'd go most weeks and saw so many of my favourite bands there so it's pretty special. We went to see Frightened Rabbit's homecoming show there in December and it was amazing, it seemed to mean so much to everyone that they were playing there and yeah, I'd definitely like to experience that!

Kowalskiy: Some may know, that the band was formed after the demise of The Ads. I had the pleasure of seeing them at The Mill and The Sauchiehall Crawl many moons ago. 'Superglue' was originally performed back in the Ads days and given the Aerials Up reworking. If you could pick one track from any band in the world and give it the Aerials Up treatment, what would it be?

Aerials Up: We actually had a go at Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting' for a session on Vic Galloway's show a while back and it went down really well so we've played it at a few gigs but it's time for something new. We've got a couple of ideas but don't wanna give anything away just yet...

Kowalskiy: What else can we expect from Aerials Up in the future?

Aerials Up: We really want to record again once festival season wraps up, I guess that'll be the next main thing from us, another single or two..

Kowalskiy: Here's a topical one. Is Andy Murray ready to win Wimbledon? Discuss.Aerials Up: Hmmm... you're kind of asking the wrong person to be honest. Sure, he's been busting his ass for ages right? I kinda feel a bit sorry for him though, must be hard to represent an country in a sport they're not very fussed about.